Colorado River Management

Water Program

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2601 N. Fort Valley Rd
Flagstaff, AZ 86001
Phone: 928.774.7488
Fax: 928.774.7570
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Grand Canyon Issues

The Colorado River in Grand Canyon. Photo courtesy of Media Bakery.

Grand Canyon Trust has been an important force in improving the management of Glen Canyon Dam.

In October 1989, our litigation and advocacy led to the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation’s initiation of an EIS on Glen Canyon Dam operations.
In October 1992, partially in response to our litigation and congressional lobbying, the Grand Canyon Protection Act was passed.
In 1997, the Trust was appointed a Representative of Environmental Interests in the Glen Canyon Dam Adaptive Management Program.
In November 2004, Secretary of the Interior Gale Norton, in response to our report, implemented a high-flow test for the benefit of sediment-related resources in Grand Canyon.
On January 23, 2006, the Trust’s ESA lawsuit resulted in a federal judge ordering USFW to withdraw the illegal 2002 Recovery Goals, which were damaging endangered humpback chub.
In October 2007, the Trust submitted a report to the Secretary of the Interior advocating for a March 2008 high flow test (in opposition to the Adaptive Management Work Group’s recommendation). Secretary Kempthorne ran the test in March 2008.
On December 7, 2007, the Trust filed a lawsuit against Reclamation and USFW alleging numerous violations of federal law with respect to dam operations and its impacts on resources in Grand Canyon National Park.
In March 2008, following Grand Canyon Trust’s report to Secretary Salazar, a 60-hour high flow was released from Glen Canyon Dam.
In February 2009, the Trust published a commissioned report by David Marcus on Glen Canyon Dam hydropower economics which concluded that running flows beneficial to Grand Canyon would cost less than $10 million/year. The report is available on our Downloads page.
On May 27, 2009, a federal court ruled in favor of the Trust’s claim that FWS’s 2008 Biological Opinion illegally sidestepped the issue of whether current dam operations harm critical habitat for humpback chub. Read the press release...